The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1887-10-29

At the same time the snake
was killing birds, mice, young
rabbits and other things right along, IA
its appetite called for. One day the
dove got its head through one Of the
mcshes in the woven wire of the cage.
and before il was discovered the poor
bird was choked 10 death like pleas
ant in snare. | got another one So
nearly like the dead dove that no one
could have told 'em apart. When
Nicodemus was asleep | put the bird
in his cage. The snake woke up along
in the afternoon. lie had hardly got
his eyes open When he sprang at the
dove like a flash of lightning and made
his supper of of her He knew she
wasn't his old friend that died
There is no telling how long an
animal will live after being struck by
rattlesnakc. and IL may not die ut all
| have known rat to die within six
minutes after Nicodemus set its fangs
in its neck, and have known one.
again. 10 live more than a day after
being struck turned little bantam
hen into Nicodcmus' cage one day,
and when he stuuck her il made
her so mad that she drove him
into a corner bleeding like stack pig
| was afraid this excited little fowl
would kill him. and took her out rs
soon rs | could. She keelcd over an
hour afterwards. and | supposed, Of
course. she was done for, with all that
ratlesnake poison in her, but she lived
three days in "A stupor and then gradu-
ally got well. That was the only in
stance ever knew of any thing re-
covering from the bite of rattlcsnake
without being treated for the poison
ing"
Except hogs. pop" interjectcd the
rattlesnake kings son once more.
"Oh, yes, except hogs" replied the
father Lord yes. Hogs don'tmind
ratAcsnakcs any more than | mind
flies. had an old sow oncc--do you
mind old Jennie, Bobp"-that was n
regular terror To rattlesnakcs. She
could find the trail al one rs surely rs
n hound can find the deer's track, and
she'd follow that trail till she came up
with the snake that made il. and then
the rattlcr was her meat. She
didn't seem To care for any other kind
of snake, but she'd hunt rattlcrs from
the beginning Of the season till the
end. II could have taught that pig
Ia retrieve she'd have been worth
good deal to me. for the number of
snakes she'd have brought in during
the season would have been immense;
but she wasn't on the retrieve. She
was hunting for her own accommoda-
ton, and ate every snake she caught,
leaving only the h1ad. used To find
so many rattlcsnake heads on my tours
through the woods that IL began to
dawn on me that my old sow was
working dead against me by destroy
ing the snake crop. and | was finally
forced TO kill her for my own protcc-
ton.
II have tried the effect Of NicOdo-
mus bite on many different animals
and birds, and with the exception of
the bantam and cur dog that ! eX-
pcrimcntcd ON, cvory one of them died,
some very soon after being bitten, and
some not until three or four days had
passed. ] am sorry 10 say that Nico-
dcmus has record Of one man, too,
on his list Of victims. As general
thing, ! do not believe that the bite OF
a rattlesnake will result fatally 10 hu-
man beings, but il did in this case.
The mans name was Flint, and il was
all his own fault that he was bitten.
lie was one Of those oyer-cOurageous,
smart fellows. who think they can do
any thing. He was Mt my place one
dav and got 30 teasing the snake. Fl
nally he pOked his finger through one
Of the mcshcs Of the wire ut Nicodc-
mus When n rattlcsnake strikes IL
never misses its mark il what il strikes
at is within reach. There is no move
ment in the world quicker than a rat
tlcsnakc's strike. The snake struck at
Flint's finger and, Of course, hit IT, In
two hours the man was dead. ] hadn I
drop Of whisky in the house, and be-
fore il was possible 10 send and get
some Flint was dead.
"A human being seems to be the only
creature that suffers pain from rattle
snakes bite. Every other living thing
that ever saw bitten 10y rattlesnake
seemed 10 act as if IL had been chloro-
formed You can hardly see where a
snakes fangs enter .le flesh and not a
drop Of blood flows from the wound.
Inflammation set. in at once; The breath
begins 90 come harI and short In ami
mails paralysis soon occurs in the hind
parts The blood leaves the extremi-
ties and becomes thin. The heart Of any
animal that dies from rattlcsnakc poi
son will always be found filled with
blood In n thin fluid state instead Of be
ing coagulated.
II am a firm believer in whisky NJ an
antidote for rattlcsnake poisoning. ]
have known seven different cases OF
persons being bitten by rattlers where
whisky was administetd promptly and
literally. and not one was fatal. Be
sides the case of the man whom my
snake killed know of two others
where the victims died. They were
both treated by doctors, but whisky
was not used in either case.
when any one tells you that a
snakes age can be- told by the number
u It's rattlcs. don't believe H. I've